South Korean football is trying to find the goldilocks time to play the K-League. Winters have long been too cold and, increasingly, summers are too hot. This may be the Land of the Morning Calm but, for much of the time, the weather can be pretty extreme.
Last week a survey revealed that more than 70% of 29 respondent coaches in Asia’s oldest professional league support a shift from the traditional March to November schedule to one that matches the European format, which starts in late August and has a winter break. It is an old debate that has intensified of late along with the summer temperatures. The city of Yangsan reached 42.5 Celsius on 2 August, the highest since records began, and Seoul recorded 17 consecutive tropical nights, so defined when the temperature does not fall below 25 degrees.
Fans fainted in stadiums and coaches bemoaned the quality of play. It looks like it is only going to get worse. A December 2025 report from the Korea meteorological administration (KMA) found that temperatures in the country had risen 0.9 degrees from 2020 to 2024, a worrying amount given that the increase over the previous 100 years had been 1.9.
South Korea’s Pro Footballers Association (KPFA) called for a change. Japan has just done this. The J League followed the same schedule as Korea until this year but has just kicked off the new season.
Japanese fans and media have long lamented the relatively small transfer fees they receive for their growing number of talented young players. Having the same three-month summer transfer window as Europe should make a difference. It also puts the league in sync with the Asian Champions League, which made the same transition in 2023.
For Korea, which has a 38-game season, the problem is a winter which is harsher than Japan’s for a greater proportion of clubs. It is not much fun sweltering in a stadium in summer but then neither is watching games at sub-zero temperatures. The KMA said that since that early last century, summers have become 25 days longer with winters 22 days shorter.
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